This invention relates to kidney dialysis machines.
A patient with kidney disease requires haemodialysis to remove waste products and water from the patient""s blood. The blood is flowed from the patient through semi-permeable membranes in a kidney dialysis machine, also known as an artificial kidney. The treated blood flows back to the patient. A dialysis session may take about four hours and a patient may require dialysis three times a week.
A dialysis patient is treated at a patient station where the kidney dialysis machine is located. A conventional kidney dialysis machine includes a wheeled housing that enables the machine to be moved among a number of different patient stations. Extending from the housing are a number of flexible members including tubes, power cables, data cables and the like that are connected to peripheral receptacles, outlets or plugs at the patient station.
During patient treatment the free ends of some of the tubes are connected to one or more receptacles at the patient station. The receptacle connections must be sterile. If a tube were inadvertently pulled from a receptacle and touched the floor, the tube and receptacle connection must be sterilized before the tube is reconnected to the receptacle.
The flexible members have a sufficient length to enable the machine to be spaced a convenient distance from the receptacle, electrical outlets, and other connections. This enables some freedom in positioning the kidney machine within a work area adjacent the connections of the patient station, or readjusting the position of the machine within such area.
However, portions of the flexible members may end up on the floor of the patient station. A tangled mass of tubes, cables and wires can form on the floor next to the machine. A tangled member may be knotted with a portion of itself or another member. When moving the kidney machine the flexible members can be caught on or tangled with the machine itself, or can be caught in or run over by the machine wheels. Caught or knotted members could be pulled and disconnected from the receptacle or other connection points when the machine is moved about the patient station. Resterilization of the pulled members may be required, or the pulled members or their connections may be damaged. The wheels may roll over the flexible members and damage them.
Thus there is a need for an improved kidney dialysis machine. The flexible members should have a length sufficient to enable the machine to be conveniently positioned within the work area but should not tangle or catch on the machine if the machine is moved within the work area.
The invention is an improvement to a conventional dialysis machine that resists catching or tangling of the flexible members when the machine is moved within a work area.
The flexible members are arranged in a bundle at a point intermediate of the machine and the ends of the members. A retaining member is wrapped at least partially around the bundle to hold the bundle together. The retaining member is attached to a spring that has one end connected to the retaining member and an opposite end attached to the kidney dialysis machine. The spring holds the retaining member above the floor such that the bundle is held off the floor and cannot be caught in the wheels of the machine. Preferably the spring is attached to the machine near the top of the machine so that the spring is held above the floor as much as possible.
If desired, additional retaining members can extend along the length of the flexible members on either side of the said retaining member. Preferably the additional retaining members are spaced sufficiently close together to effectively form a cable of flexible members extending from the machine and beyond the retaining member attached to the holding spring. The individual members separate from the cable to extend to respective connections at the ends of the individual members. The retaining members maintain the axial alignment of the flexible members along the cable and resist knots from forming in the flexible members.
The retaining members can be conventional cable ties. The ties are inexpensive and readily available in a number of different sizes and configurations. The holding spring is preferably a metal coil tension spring that has one end attached to a cable tie and the other end attached to the machine. Preferably the tension spring has looped or coiled ends that form convenient attachment points. The spring may be attached to a preexisting connection member on a conventional dialysis machine.
In yet other possible embodiments of the present invention the retaining members may be one or more tubular sleeves.
In yet other possible embodiments of the present invention the machine can have a mounting structure specifically designed to mount the holding spring of the present invention. In yet other embodiments of the present invention the spring and one or more retaining members can be supplied as a conversion kit for existing machines. The kit may also include mounting hardware, such as threaded fasteners or magnets, to mount the end of the spring to the machine.
Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention, of which there are two sheets of one embodiment.